Caution: Minor spoilers for the Sozin's Comet book.

SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. Anyway, in my next installment of the House of Cards...things heat up. Now for all Zutara fans who are not convinced this story is Zutara...you may not be anymore convinced when you read this. It may seem a little heavy on the Maiko at first but please trudge on! The Maiko will be...not that hard to get through but for realism's sake I'm taking some time. But, not too much time.

A big thanks goes out to Limnhere, Yurtleturle and Hollywoodland for helping me read through this chapter and giving their constructive input. It really means a lot to me and I'm glad I have all your help.

Terminology:
Congee- Rice porridge. It's a breakfast food but can be eaten at any time of the day and mixed with different things.

Pickled Tofu- Preserved tofu that has the consistency of soft cheese.

"Fall off the table, and get swept under."

- Radiohead

Chapter Two:

Death's First Move

In the morning, Zuko awoke to see his fiancé, sitting at her vanity. Her hair was already fixed and she was now painting her nails in a coat of mahogany polish. Sitting up, Zuko immediately felt dizzy and his body felt cold. The linens, to no surprise, smelled like smoke.

"Morning." Mai said, smiling into the mirror. Zuko returned the smile and slowly walked toward her.

"Morning." He leaned over and kissed her passionately on the lips. His hair fell in front of his face and covered Mai's eyes.

"Your hair is in my eyes, Zuko." Mai remarked, pulling away then taking Zuko's hand.

Zuko snorted, "I'm not getting it cut if that's what you're asking."

"I'm not asking anything." Mai replied, closing the bottle of polish.

Zuko nodded then walked into his dressing room. He looked at all the clothes he'd been given over the years. The royal garment makers went insane over preparing clothes for him, but he hardly wore them. He looked around for a while and decided that casual clothes would be fine to wear.

"So…" Mai said.

"Yes dear?" Zuko replied, raising his voice a little.

"That Katara is quite…different."

The Fire Lord raised a curious brow, and pulled loose shirt over his head. "What do you mean?" He asked, reaching for his trousers.

"You know, different."

Zuko walked out from the dressing room and stared at his fiancé. "I don't think I do. Explain?"

"She's…different."

The Fire Lord wrinkled his nose in confusion. "That doesn't really make it any clearer."

Mai turned around in her chair and looked up at Zuko's face. "Never mind. Anyway, if she's getting you to quit smoking I'd be completely indebted to her." She turned around again and ran a hand through the base of her hair.

Zuko sat down on the bed again. "The bed sheets do smell like smoke." Zuko said, picking at the sheet underneath him.

Mai got up and walked to him. She cupped his face and sighed. "I just don't want you to be upset over Azula's escape. We'll find her, someone will. The Avatar is right here, you could ask for his help."

Zuko turned away. "I can't always ask Aang for favours. And this one…is kind of a big one."

"Well when you decide—tell me. I'm tired of sleeping on an ashtray." Mai bent down and pecked Zuko on the cheek, then preceded to leave the room.

The Fire Lord sighed. "You know, it's only been a month…Mai?"

When Zuko walked into the hallway he noticed that Aang and Katara were standing by a window. Aang's hands were at her waist, and Katara's arms were gently rested on top of Aang's broad shoulders. She never could've done that six years ago. I'd better get going before they—

"Zuko!"

Zuko turned around.

"Good Morning Aang, morning Katara." He nervously lifted his arm in a wave.

Katara's blushed and lowered her arms. "Good morning."

"Going to breakfast now?" Aang asked, letting his hands drop from Katara's sides.

"Yeah," the Fire Lord replied, "I was hoping to get to the bacon before Sokka did."

"You're too late," Katara started, "He went down fifteen minutes ago."

"Well if I'm lucky, he's spared the eggs."

In the morning, the dining hall was surprisingly more beautiful than it was during the night. A wall of large windows allowed the light to stream in, and there was also a door to the gardens at the back of the palace. Sometimes after breakfast, Zuko and Mai would take a stroll outside and sip lemonade until it was brunch but this was only on the occasions when he didn't have any work to do.

Zuko walked into the dining hall and first noticed Sokka and Suki seated at the back corner of the table. Sokka's plate was spilling at the sides (not a surprise) and he seemed eager to finish and get more. Suki's plate was also full, but it was reasonable since she was the one who was carrying their child. Placed in front of them was a large bowl of congee and rice, a plate of eggs and bacon and small platter of pickled tofu.

"You know Sokka, you can chew your food before you swallow. It tends to help when eating." Zuko said, taking a seat in front of Suki. "Have you seen—"

"Mai?" Suki replied, pouring tea for Zuko.

"Yes."

"She went into the garden. I think Sokka scared her." Suki answered, putting the teapot down. "Good morning Katara. Good morning Aang."

Zuko turned his head, and then turned back to Suki. "She's really not that easily scared."

"Sokka, you do know that chewing is a critical part of eating right?" Katara immediately remarked, pulling out a chair and taking the seat beside Suki.

Sokka looked up and glared at his younger sister. "Thanks sis, but the Fire Lord's already said that."

Katara rolled her eyes and looked at Zuko. "Great minds must think alike."

"Dumb ones can too."

"Can it Sokka." Katara retorted. "Anyway, Suki's supposed to be the one eating for two. I'd like to see your excuse."

Sokka shrugged. "Husbands can go through the same stages of pregnancy as his wife. Her pain is mine."

Suki rolled her eyes and scowled. "Uh-huh, until the giving birth process that is." The table erupted with laughter.

Katara madly grinned while she picked up a bit of pickled tofu with her chopsticks. She then placed it in Aang's bowl and then a bit in her own. Zuko carefully watched as Katara attended to Aang's plate until Katara looked up and glared at him.

"Yes?" She asked.

Zuko snapped his head back and stuffed rice into his mouth. Can't expect an answer when my mouth's full, can she?

Katara relented and went onto eating.

"Have you seen the garden Katara?" Suki asked, putting a spoonful of congee in her mouth.

"Not yet. I was hoping that Zuko could give us a tour of the palace gardens…it is a nice day after all. It seems to be sunny and cool." Katara answered, politely wiping the edges of her mouth with her napkin.

Suddenly there was the sound of a door closing. "Ugh."

The gang turned and noticed that Mai had walked in from garden. "It's so sunny outside that it's practically blinding. And it's frigidly cold too. Why is every day so…oh-" Mai paused and stared blankly at the group sitting around the table. "Good morning."

Zuko noticed Katara's jaw drop slightly but instead of commenting on it, he quickly stood up to pull a chair out for Mai.

"Thank you Zuko." Mai replied, taking a seat beside him.

"So about that tour?" Aang asked.

"I can show you around after breakfast if you like."

"What tour?" Mai asked, picking up a pair of chopsticks.

"Katara asked if I could show everyone around the garden." Zuko responded, nodding in Katara's direction.

"But it's freezing." Mai instantly replied.

"Me and Sokka are used to cold weather, so we'll be fine. Suki and Aang don't really mind either. But if it's too cold for you, we'd be glad to just go on our own." Katara said, spooning congee into her bowl.

Mai narrowed her eyes slightly. "That's all right. I'll manage."

As promised, Zuko brought the gang outside to the garden after breakfast. This time Mai brought a parasol and shawl.

"Mai if you're cold, you don't have to come along. The garden is pretty big, so we may be out here for a while." Zuko said, rubbing Mai's shoulders with his hands.

"I'm fine. The garden isn't that big. I can manage and you know that."

Zuko turned away and rolled his eyes. I hope she didn't see that, Zuko immediately thought.

"Please don't roll your eyes at me." Mai snapped, taking Zuko's arm.

I expected that.

In the garden, all of the flowers and hedges had been specially carved and planted by famous artisans and gardeners. Statues of goddesses, gods and a lady with a painted face and bamboo hat stood erect in the middle of fountains and hedges while the blossomed cherry trees made the garden radiate in a warm pink glow. Zuko stopped at the pond near the back of the garden, then reached for a bag of breadcrumbs by a rock.

A duckling waddled onto dry land and stumbled toward Katara. Katara reached out her hand and the duckling stared at it. Zuko walked over and handed her the bag of crumbs. She thanked him then sprinkled some on her hand. Cautiously, the duckling began to peck lightly at her palm. Katara giggled.

"Your garden is beautiful Zuko." Aang said, taking a long look around. "It's changed a lot since the war ended."

"We hired a lot of people to help make the garden bigger and to plant more flowers. That's all. We also gave the ducklings more swimming room." Zuko put his arm around Mai.

"Fire Lord Zuko!" The group turned around and saw that a servant had run out of the palace. He was panting loudly and he looked like he might collapse from exhaustion.

"What's happened?" Zuko replied, swiftly walking over.

"Your sister… the Princess…her body has been found your majesty."

Zuko's eyes glossed over and his jaw fell. "What?"

"Please follow me." The servant quickly sprinted back inside with Zuko running after him.

Azula's body arrived in a narrow coffin later in the afternoon. Zuko scheduled a funeral to be held in the evening.

Zuko had never liked his sister, but as a brother he did love her. His intention was never find her dead but to just find her…and stop her from wreaking havoc on the country. He had asked for her coffin to be placed at the front of the room, in a small house behind the palace. Zuko waited alone for dusk to arrive, and stared at the box.

Slowly, he walked toward his sister. The lid was opened, and he could see her face clearly. There wasn't any doubt that the face was that of Azula's. However, she seemed so alive that Zuko could've sworn she would've reanimated herself and attacked him right there. But she didn't, and wouldn't because she was gone.

Gone. The word stung Zuko's mind.

He knew there was a chance he would've seen his sister die eventually, but by then he would've hoped that he had gotten the courage to reach out to her and fix their relationship. If it meant taking her from prison, and trusting her, he would've done it. But six years was too soon for him to risk something like that. And Azula had died far before he had even thought of taking that first step.

Zuko turned quickly around when he heard the sound of a footstep creaking on the wooden floor.

"It's okay Mai. You don't have to come in until evening. I know this is hard for you too."

"It's not Mai."

Katara walked in with folded arms. She leaned against the doorway.

"Are you going to make following me a habit?" Zuko asked, sure his words would drive her away. But they didn't and some how he had anticipated that might happen. Instead, she walked toward him until she was only a few feet away from him and right in front of the coffin.

"Only if you make running away a habit of yours. Look…I'm really sorry about Azula." Katara said.

Zuko sighed. "I could've never guessed that I would take this so hard. She always hated me, and she was hell-bent on killing me too." He snorted, "That's the whole reason why we wanted to catch her…for our safety. It's hard seeing her…here."

Katara nodded sorrowfully and her eyes met Azula's face. "She looks at peace though. Where did they find her?"

"She was found in the forest near Roku's temple. She may have tried to enter the temple grounds, but failed."

"What do you think she would want at Roku's temple?"

Zuko shook his head. "I don't know. We don't even know her cause of death yet." He paused then weakly smiled. "But I guess there is an upside to this."

"There is?" Katara asked, raising a curious brow.

"I was going to cancel our trip to Ember Island because I didn't want to leave with Azula on the loose. Now that she's been found, I feel safer leaving. I really wanted to spend some time with everyone, just like we did when we were younger." Zuko replied. Katara met his eyes and then looked down to the ground. "What's wrong?" Zuko asked.

"Nothing. I just feel the same way." The waterbender looked up again. Zuko wasn't sure of what to say.

"Katara are you—" Suki walked into the room then paused, staring. "Am I interrupting something?" The Kyoshi warrior looked at the pair with inquiring eyes.

Katara and Zuko instinctively took a huge step away from each other and managed a grin at each other, and then Suki. Suki folded her arms and glared at the Fire Lord. "Mai told me to tell you that Ty Lee arrived. She's sitting with her in the salon right now."

"Oh," Zuko started, "Thank you Suki."

"Where's Aang?" Katara asked, moving toward the door.

Suki smiled. "Actually, he's outside."

"Oh. Thank you." Katara gently brushed past Suki, walked out the door and down the steps.

Zuko stared at Suki. "Aren't you going to follow her?"

Suki shook her head.

"Where's your husband?"

"He's with Ty Lee and Mai. Apparently he didn't tell me that he and Ty Lee had something going on way back when too. First the moon, now a co-worker. What is this world coming to? But I guess wives are always the last to know these things." Suki said. "Well, I guess I'll head back inside to find Sokka…will you be coming to find Mai?"

"No, I think I'll just stay here for a while. My sister and I have some catching up to do."

"She's a corpse." Suki remarked, rather flatly.

Must be the hormones talking, Zuko justified to himself.

"My sister and I had a tough childhood. Being a corpse and all." Zuko replied. Suki flicked her wrist while laughing and walked out of the house.

Zuko turned back to Azula. "But then again, talking to you while you were alive was hard enough. At least you won't interrupt me anymore."

The funeral was a quiet affair and everyone had changed into white ceremonial clothing. Zuko was frozen to his seat, while the priests circled Azula's coffin rattling beads and holding incense. Everything seemed to blur into each other. The sound muffled, his vision became hazy and his extremities felt numb.

Abruptly, everything went black.

When he could hear again the first voice he heard was Katara's. In between the static in his ears he could feel that she was shaking him and screaming. He felt her hands on his face and shoulder; they were cold. As he regained consciousness, he awoke to see his fiancé sitting on the ground close by him holding his hand and Katara on his other side.

"Don't try to speak." Katara immediately said, putting a finger to Zuko's lips. The Fire Lord used some of his energy to scowl angrily at her. She returned his gesture with a frown.

"Thank goodness you're okay." Mai then said, massaging Zuko's hand softly.

"Is he okay?"

Zuko recognized that the voice belonged to Ty Lee. He hadn't had a chance to properly greet her before the ceremony began and now he had no idea if the funeral was over or not.

"How long…have I…been down?" Zuko croaked. He attempted to get up which prompted Katara to push him firmly down.

"Five minutes or so," The waterbender replied. She put away her pouch of water.

For a minute Zuko lay looking up at everyone and then he suddenly realized his embarrassment. Everyone was staring at him and the many eyes that were upon him followed him as he clumsily pushed past Mai and Katara to head for the door.

Still slightly dizzy, Zuko tried to recollect what had happened inside the room. It was obvious that he must've blacked out but what had caused him to do so? Could it have been the knowledge that his sister was actually dead? That the villain inside his mind and the one who had tried to kill him in his dreams and reality was truly gone? Or was it that he had lost his only sister?

"My family." He said aloud to himself. Stumbling off the dirt path, Zuko found himself heading toward the duck pond, a place where he had found solace too many times before.

He sat at the edge of the water, just underneath the tree and watched the ducks swim toward him. He reached for a bag of crumbs and tossed its contents into the water. The ducks followed the crumbs and began to peck at them.

Zuko perked his head up when he heard the sound of a twig cracking underneath someone's weight. He sighed. "So I guess you are going to make it a habit, aren't you?"

"Make what a habit?" The voice asked. From behind the bushes, Mai emerged with her arms folded across her chest. Ty Lee followed close behind her.

Trying to hide his shock, Zuko fumbled over the right words to say. "Nothing, I thought you were Sokka. He has a tendency to trip over twigs."

Mai crinkled her nose in disgust. "You thought I tripped over a twig?"

"Well, no but…uh…Hi Ty Lee." Zuko said, peeking out from behind Mai and waving. Mai glared at him.

"Hey Zuko! I'm ever so glad you are all right. Katara and Mai were shaking you for so long we could've sworn you wouldn't get up. Then Katara tried to heal you with her waterbending…and we were so--" Ty Lee replied, squealing with joy.

"Good to see you too." He replied, looking away and suddenly feeling very awkward.

"What came over you back there?" Mai said, leaning down.

Zuko shook his head. "Anxiety…I guess."

Ty Lee nodded. "It's understandable. I could feel such a negative aura in the room. It didn't feel right but I don't think anything's supposed to feel right at funerals."

Mai nodded in agreement. "Listen, please take it easy tonight. Get some rest; you'll need as much as you can for tomorrow. Okay?"

Zuko heaved a sigh and nodded. "I know. I'll be up shortly."

"Good." Mai kissed him lightly on the cheek and then moved on. Ty Lee followed close behind her.

From behind the bushes, Zuko could see Katara walking along the path. She looked at him, met his eyes and walked over. She took a seat next to him and stared out to the water.

"You okay?" Katara asked. Her eyes were still focused on the water.

"As good as anyone could be after their sister's funeral."

Katara bobbed her head up and down in agreement. "You had us worried. I've never seen someone pass out at a funeral before."

"I have surprisingly been to only two funerals in my life." Zuko replied. "My grandfather. It was one of the most terrifying days of my childhood."

"Did you pass out then?"

"No, this would be my first time." He laughed dryly.

"Why didn't you wait for Iroh?"

"It would take him at least a week to get over here so I figured I'd just save him the trouble of coming over from Ba Sing Se and just tell him not to come at all." Zuko responded, rubbing his knee nervously.

"You can't just bury someone and expect it not to affect you Zuko." Katara said sharply. Zuko could feel the words cut into him and the truth of the matter, fester in the wound.

Naturally Zuko did what anyone would do and changed the subject. Looking down at her, he noticed that Katara's necklace was absent.

"Where's your necklace?"

Katara touched her neck on reflex and then gradually lowered her hand. "The clasp is broken."

"There's a shop at the edge of the city that sells clasps and items for jewelry. Do you want to go before we leave for Ember Island tomorrow?" Zuko replied.

"Really? I mean…if it's not too much trouble then—"

"It's not any trouble. I'll take you there in the morning."

At the crack of dawn, the shops began to stir in the town district. Half an hour later, many of the stores were already open and the city core was in full swing. Merchants 

chanted about their wares, farmers vended their crops and vendors opened little booths that were filled with tiny trinkets. Zuko noticed that Katara's eyes glowed at the sight of jewelry.

"Did you want something?" He asked.

Katara shook her head and walked on.

"The shop is over here," Zuko said, pointing at a store wedged between a bakery and a pottery shop. "We'll be able to find a nice clasp somewhere here."

Inside, the store was filled with tiny parts for necklaces and bracelets. One entire wall of the store was covered with jars of beads. Jade, pearl, stone, marble…and even things Zuko couldn't recognize. Tiny patterns were inscribed in some of the beads, but the majority was plain or coloured. Zuko allowed his eyes to wander for a while before he found the tiny niche in the shop that stored clasps and wires. He picked up a clasp with his fingers and walked to Katara.

"Will this do?" He asked.

"Yes it looks perfect actually." Katara said and Zuko walked to the counter. "Hey wait!"

Zuko turned. "What?"

Katara lowered her head. "Let me pay for it."

"I got this covered." Zuko turned back to the vendor. "Excuse me, I'd like to buy this clasp."

The vendor who ran the shop was a bearded elderly man whom had thick-rimmed glasses mounted on his head. He picked up the clasp with his large hands and inspected it closely. "This clasp is made out of silver and plated with 14 karat gold. A very wise choice." The vendor grinned and adjusted his glasses to see Katara. "Ooh, so you must be fixing a necklace for your pretty girlfriend eh? Very gentlemen-like."

Zuko's cheeks burned. "Uh actually…"

"Oh my goodness! The Fire Lord!" The vendor now exclaimed, his glasses readjusted. "Forgive me! Congratulations on your engagement Sire!"

With glasses on, the vendor's eyes were ten times larger than they had been before. Zuko came to the conclusion that the vendor was either extremely inattentive or near blind if he couldn't see the obvious scar. Even without glasses.

"It's okay and thank you."

"If it's all right for me to ask, what brings you to my shop so early in the morning? Are your servants outside?" The vendor asked, craning his neck to see past Katara and out the door. He folded the clasp in paper and then put it inside a small velvet bag.

"No. We're just making a few quick errands." Zuko replied, picking up the bag.

"I see. Please don't worry about paying for the clip. For you, it is a gift. Thank you very much for visiting my shop and I am truly very sorry about the…slip up." The vendor said, bowing his head.

Zuko shook his head. "It's not a problem really, and thank you."

Katara followed Zuko outside and then stared at him with a dumb smile plastered to her face. "That was…awkward." She said, looking over at the other side of the street.

"Stranger things have happened."

"Hey Zuko…what's that?" Katara pointed at a building at the end of the street. Its lanterns were lit and there were many carved flowers bedecking the sign and the entrance. "The House of Cards."

"Oh…that's…"

"Oh God, it's a brothel."

"Yeah." Zuko said, a smirk appearing from the corners of his lips.

"And what, is so funny?" Katara now asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Nothing." He fought back the urge to snort.

"It is a beautiful building though…"

"It's been around for a long time, but apparently they switched owners a few weeks ago. They hired a lot of new dancers and Tarot card readers."

"Card readers?!" Katara interjected, suddenly ecstatic.

Zuko raised a brow. "Yes?"

Katara's enthusiasm visibly decreased. "Never mind," she said. "We should get back to the palace. The others must be getting impatient. Did you tell Mai we were coming here?"

"Aw shi-"

"I'm going to guess you didn't."

Zuko groaned.

According to Sozin's Comet, Ty Lee is a Kyoshi warrior.

AN: So, chapter three will be up...in the next...bit lol. And holy heck, Azula's DEAD?? Before I get a ton of questions asking if she actually is...let me answer for now: She's only as dead as you think she is. Dun dun dun...

The House of Cards is a brothel? It'll make sense, soon...